TAR UC scored a double win in the MICPA-CAANZ Accountancy Week Accounting Students Quiz when its teams of students of the Diploma in Business Studies (Accounting) as well as Bachelor of Accounting (Hons) clinched the Champion and 1st runner-up titles respectively in the Diploma and University categories of the competition. Ng Peng Feng, Tong Wai Kit and Lim Qin Ni of the Diploma in Business Studies (Accounting) programme emerged as the Champion team in the Diploma Category, walking away with cash prize RM800, trophies and certificates, while Lee Cheong Yit, Lee Soon Ying and Tan Kar Men of the Bachelor of Accounting (Hons) programme won the 1st runner-up position in the University Category, walking away with cash prize RM600, trophies and certificates.
Held on 2 December 2016 at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM), Bangi, the nationwide competition saw the participation of 11 institutions of higher learning at the University level and 6 institutions at the Diploma level. It was mainly conducted in two stages with the preliminary round being a written quiz and the finals being an oral quiz. The competition is part of a series of activities organised during the annual MICPA-CAANZ Accountancy Week which is now in its 17th instalment. It mainly aims to test the students’ knowledge in accounting, auditing, business law, finance, taxation, general knowledge as well as current affairs.
When asked about the preparations they made for the competition, Ng Peng Feng from the Diploma team said that they had a lot of group discussion as a team. Tong Wai Kit, also from the same team, said that their strength in general knowledge played an important part in their win as a large part of the quiz tested them on this. Elaborating more on the nature of the quiz, he also added, “In the first round – the written quiz - we had to answer all the questions individually. However, in the oral part, we were allowed to discuss our answers. So, both our individual knowledge in the subjects tested as well as teamwork played a role in our win.”
On what motivated them to join the competition in the first place, Ng Peng Feng explained that they mainly joined the competition to gain new knowledge and experience. “Our main motive was to learn and experience something new. We really didn’t expect to win,” he said proudly. “The knowledge we gained in our programme of study definitely helped us a lot,” added Tong Wai Kit.
The team of students from the University level, on the other hand, spoke of what they learnt from the competition. “We learnt the importance of not just focusing on academic knowledge which we gain in the classroom but also on general knowledge. It is therefore necessary for us to expose ourselves to the latest issues in the world via World News, BBC and so on. It does not matter which area we read up on whether it be politics, finance and so on. As long as we widen our breadth of knowledge to other areas, we are bound to reap the benefits in future,” said Tan Kar Men. Lee Soon Ying from the University team, eagerly stressed on the importance of joining more competitions like this as it would be a good platform for students to learn how to apply their skills.
